


A Living Dream, A Waking Nightmare

by KaseyTheSage



Category: The Borrowers
Genre: Borrowers - Freeform, Crossdressing, Fearplay, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, G/T, Giant/Tiny, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 22:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21205259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaseyTheSage/pseuds/KaseyTheSage
Summary: A borrower secretly rebels against his family’s traditions, but accidentally ends up discovering his family has secrets of their own...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind, this is an early draft, I’m probably gonna revise it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did some editing on October 15th, 2020, I might do the same for the other chapters. I’ve had this on hiatus for almost a year but I’m determined to update it! I keep feeling a little awkward reading my old writing, it’s funny how my style feels a little different even after just one year.

Ari had left his room as quietly as he could, making sure his parents were sound asleep before setting out. Every step was full of tension and anxiety, and his mind swam with excuses. He could just say he wanted to try borrowing, right? Surely they’d find that preferable to the truth.

He slipped through the crack under the cabinets in the kitchen and out into the humans’ house. The countertop towered high above him, teasing foods and spices that his father often would bring home. He hadn’t seen all of his father’s borrowing tools, but nothing came to mind that would allow him to climb that high...

Putting those thoughts aside, Ari continued on. He ran as fast as he could, hoping to be back home within an hour. Precious minutes had passed by the time he reached his destination in the human’s bedroom. Out of breath, he slowly walked towards the dollhouse.

Ari had practically grown up alongside this human. He was a few years younger than it, but he’d watched it grow up, and he was glad that the human had never really gotten around to boxing up this old dollhouse. Maybe it had been some form of nostalgia or just pure laziness, but the fact it was still here meant Ari could enjoy himself.

He slowly pulled off his dull shirt as he snuck into the dollhouse, still feeling anxious. Ari never cared for the traditional lifestyle his family held dear. He cared about appearances and comfort, and believed that there was more in life to strive for beyond survival. The first time he’d challenged that traditional mindset was when he wore one of his sister’s dresses. His parents tried to explain why it was “immoral” and how they had to “follow tradition because it protects us and helps us remember what’s right.”

Nothing about that felt right to Ari. Restricting a person from harmless activities felt nonsensical, and Ari felt the need to question every tradition his family followed. The only one he truly understood was avoiding humans. They were terrifying, like strange, scaled-up imitations of borrowers.

Ari looked inside the wardrobe in the dollhouse, and pulled out a soft, blue dress. He hurriedly changed into the dress, leaving his old pants and shirt on the floor. He ran to the full-body mirror in the human’s room, and admired himself as he would every few nights.

He smiled wide at his reflection. The black straps of the dress hung on his shoulders, letting the dress cascade down his body. It was tied with a dark blue ribbon at the waist, giving it a cutesy feel. He felt his soft, fluffy black hair as he looked in the mirror. His father often borrowed bits of shampoo and conditioner, and Ari usually had to “borrow” some conditioner from his sister, as his father had so often told him “men must be tough and hardy, women must be gentle and delicate” every time he openly asked for it. His father said it was to make men and women work better for different jobs that were necessary to survive, but it sounded like garbage to Ari. Why should something uncontrollable affect the jobs you’re trained for?

Soon enough, Ari’s train of thought was derailed as he heard a voice above him.

“...what are you?”

He slowly looked up in the mirror and saw a human directly behind him, crouching over his miniature form. He turned around, his every movement sending a spike of fear through his body, and let out a faint gasp as he took in just how massive it was.

Despite how often he went out, Ari never saw a human this close before. They normally were all asleep, and he could simply sneak by and avoid having to interact with them at all. This one should’ve been asleep, why was it awake?!

As much as Ari tried, he couldn’t respond. He could barely even breathe as he did his best to form words. He slowly backed away from the human until he touched the mirror, then managed to whisper “I-I’m sorry...”

The human reached for Ari, and all he could bring himself to do was let out a pathetic squeak and start running as fast as he could. He hoped he could get somewhere the human couldn’t reach, like under the dresser, but his hopes turned out to be pointless as the human scooped him up.

Ari felt as though he was going to throw up as he was suddenly lifted high above the ground. He feebly curled up in a ball in the palm of the human’s hand, hoping he wouldn’t fall.

He had never been told *what* exactly a human would do to him if he was caught, but his imagination had run wild with scenarios, from being kept as a helpless toy to having his head ripped off with the same ease a human removes a bottle cap. He struggled to try and come up with some way to bargain with the human, but his mind was too full of worries to have any sort of coherent thoughts.

Finally, the human spoke to him.

“You didn’t answer me before,” it began. “What exactly are you?”

Ari’s heart was pounding out of his chest, it took all of his willpower to even force out a single word as he stood up, struggling to stay on his feet.

“I’m... a borrower...” Ari managed to say, unable to look the human in the eye. He was isolated on its warm palm, and transfixed by how massive it was. Its blonde hair left messy strands cascading down its curious face as it seemed to study him. Ari tensed up as he saw it narrow its huge green eyes at him. It faintly smiled before sitting down on its bed and setting him down beside it.

“What does a ‘borrower’ do?” The human asked, looming high above Ari. Its voice was beautiful, every word it spoke seemed to beg Ari to listen and lose himself in it, but he felt far too afraid to relax at the sound of it.

“I-I take food and medicine and other things I need that you w-wouldn’t notice... and I use them t-to survive...” Ari felt pathetic, unable to even say a full sentence without tripping over his words. Maybe some part of him just hoped that if he seemed worthless enough, the human would let him go.

From the blue pajama pants and green t-shirt it wore to its messy blonde hair to its sleepy green eyes, everything about it seemed so... borrower-like. Just massively scaled up, and much more terrifying as a result. Ari had never been told why borrowers and humans shouldn’t interact, so maybe this was just another faulty tradition that his family refused to break?

“W-will you let me go..?” Ari asked, anxiously holding his own hand. The human smiled much more warmly this time, causing some of the tension in Ari to lessen.

“Of course,” the human replied, “if you just answer one question for me. Did you take that dress from my old dollhouse?”

“Y-yes,” Ari replied. “I thought it looked really nice, and...”

He trailed off, unable to find a way to justify taking it.

“I suppose that’s okay,” the human responded. “You said you take things you need to survive, and we all need some comfort and beauty in our lives to get by.”

“W-wait, you’re just going to let me have it?” Ari asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion. The human nodded, leaving Ari in complete disbelief. There’s no way borrowers would hide away for so long if humans were actually this kind. Paranoia crept into his mind, making him step back slightly as he wondered what the human could be planning to do with him.

“You can take the first one for free,” the human noted, “but I can’t just give them all to you.” Ari whimpered quietly as the human felt his little arm between its thumb and forefinger.

“I make clothes for dolls by commission and sell them,” the human explained. “You’re about the same size, roughly three or four inches tall... If you want more from me, just help me see how the clothes would look on an actual little model. I’ll let you keep any from a selection of them, as payment for helping me with my work.”

Ari thought for a moment, unsure what to do.

_It wants me to be like its doll? _Ari thought to himself. _No, no, it just wants me to be like a little model... And it would let me wear so many cute outfits..._

“I’ll do it,” Ari blurted out, trying to make a decision before his family realized he was missing. “I can’t promise I’ll regularly be here, but I’ll come out any night I can.”

“Thank you,” the human said with a gentle smile. “My name is Damien.”

Ari supposed he should’ve known that humans had names, but it surprised him to know this one’s. Humans seemed so distant and dissimilar from borrowers that he simply never thought about them having their own names. He had seen them more like beasts than people.

“I’m Ari,” he stated, staring up into Damien’s leaf-green eyes. Damien gently laid his hand beside Ari, allowing him to climb on.

_It... He’s so much like me_, Ari thought. _He’s not a monster or an animal or something, he’s just like me._

“It was really nice to meet you, Ari,” Damien said, Ari finally able to embrace the sound of his voice and relax with it. “I can’t wait to talk to you again.”

Damien gently set Ari down on the floor beside the bed, towering over him. Oddly enough, Ari felt slightly comforted by that. Damien wasn’t a threat that wanted to kill him, he was letting him go and even offering help for him.

“You too!” Ari exclaimed, finally letting his excitement show. He no longer had to hide his tastes from everyone, he had someone he could confide in and enjoy himself with.

The borrower gathered up his previous outfit, but elected to stay in the dress as he made his way home. He cheerfully strode across the carpet, across the tile floor, through the crack in the wall beneath the cabinet, and finally through the long halls hidden between the walls of the human’s house until he reached his room. He dropped into bed with a quiet sigh, and decided he’d go to sleep in his new clothes.

He wrapped himself up under his blankets, then slowly started to drift off to sleep...

...however, his rest was interrupted as he heard footsteps walking by in the hall outside his little room. There was more weight to it, so it must be his father. He was sure his father was here before he left, did he go out for borrowing without him knowing?

Ari’s door creaked open, and he quickly shut his eyes and kept himself covered in the blankets. He heard his father let out a heavy sigh before closing the door and walking back to his and his mother’s room.

_Does he know?_ Ari asked himself. _Did he see me out there? Are we going to have to leave? I don’t want to leave, I just finally met someone who understands me..._

Ari’s mind was plagued with anxious thoughts, leaving his night nigh sleepless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind I wrote this really late at night, and I still need to edit it. I figured I’d just post it now so I can get some input, I’m curious what people think!
> 
> (Finally edited on December 25th, 2020)

Ari had managed to fall asleep for a few hours, buried in the burgundy blankets, but was woken up by his mother knocking on the wooden door.

“Good morning, wake up!” She cheerfully chimed, going to his sister’s room to do the same. Ari’s mother had a knack for waking up right around sunrise, and essentially acted as the family’s alarm clock. 

Ari got up and pulled the dress over his head and off, then folded it up carefully and hid it in the bottom of his drawers, beneath his unbearably drab clothes. After getting a shower, Ari slid on a faded grey shirt and a pair of brown trousers. He often wondered how his family was able to borrower something as noticeable as clean water so steadily from the humans, but it was said that his grandfather had managed to make his own plumbing system that borrowed hot water from the humans’ system. 

“Morning, son,” his father grumbled, nursing a small cup of green tea. His firm, dark, furrowed brow shaded his eyes, making him look far sterner and more intimidating than Ari could ever hope to look. He was glad he was allowed to let his hair grow out even though his father kept his own black hair cut short. He wanted to express any sort of individuality he could in this family.

“Morning,” Ari replied without a thought. His eyes ran over his father’s clothes, noticing the sewn-up patches on his burgundy shirt and brown trousers.

_I_ _bet Damien could make some better outfits for us_, Ari thought to himself. _They’d probably be more comfortable, look better, I’m sure it would make things more tolerable..._

_Of course, that would mean my family would have to know that he knew about us, then my father would definitely make us move..._

“Ari, you okay?” Sasha asked, giving him a nervous look. “You look really out of it...”

He quickly turned to his sister and replied, “I‘m okay, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I had some bad dreams.” He’d practiced enough excuses in his head in case he got caught sneaking out, he didn’t even need to think of it before responding. 

She always got to look so much better than him. Her long, braided, dark brown hair drew attention to the difference in color between her hair and faded light blue dress. She often expressed kindness towards Ari, but he doubted she would understand what was going through his head. Sometimes it felt like she didn’t want to question anything in her own world. 

“Would talking about them help?” She asked. Ari shook his head, taking a piece of bread, a small bit of lettuce, and a cup of tea and having his meal in silence, ignoring any further chatter in the room.

Time passed, and Ari danced the hours away in his room, listening to the music the humans often played. He’d once been allowed to go out with his father and watch a bit of a movie the humans put on, and he’d forgotten most of it besides a gorgeous scene where the main character had a formal dance with the girl he loved. Every time Ari heard a human playing violin, his mind would take him back to every step of the dance, and would follow it as best as he could. It became a fantasy of his to one day fall in love and dance with someone like that, although he already knew he didn’t get along with the other borrowers who lived in the house, so he eventually gave up on that romantic dream becoming a reality. 

Ari did everything he could to squander the day and try to make time pass faster. Dancing, reading, singing, anything to make it feel like the day was shorter. His father wouldn’t go out borrowing until tomorrow, and he wanted to meet with Damien again as soon as he could. He had the same “I wanted to go borrowing” excuse prepared in case he was caught this time, and quietly headed out once he was sure his family was asleep.

As soon as he found himself on the tile floor of the humans’ kitchen, he ran as fast as he could to Damien’s room. He tripped as the tile turned to carpet, but got on his feet again and decided to walk the rest of the way.

When he arrived, Ari found The only thing illuminating the room was the yellowish light from the lamp on his desk. 

“Damien, Damien!!” Ari exclaimed excitedly, rushing over to him. “Why are you up so late? You couldn’t have known I was coming...”

Damien clenched his eyes shut before opening them again, clearly exhausted as he turned to look down at the little borrower.

“No, no,” he explained. “I just had some clothes that were commissioned and I wanted to get them done on time...”

“Oh...” Ari fully understood the feeling of staying up so late to finish up a responsibility, but something saddened him about seeing Damien look so sleepy and weak.

“Did you want to try something on?” Damien asked, holding back a yawn.

Ari battled with himself in his head for a brief moment, trying to work out if he wanted to keep Damien up even later than he was already staying awake.

_Well, just trying one outfit can’t hurt, right? And he can keep working while I wear it..._

“Sure!” Ari’s face lit up with a bright smile as he climbed onto Damien’s hand and sat down cross-legged, staring up at the human’s face.

Damien lifted him up as carefully as he could and set him down on the desk, allowing Ari to look around for a moment and get his bearings.

Ari gasped as he saw the all the clothes on top of the desk, organized and kept orderly, all with cute little labels beneath them denoting a name and price. He assumed the names were those of the commissioners, as he didn’t expect a black dress to be named “Timothy Greene.”

He walked along the clothes, occasionally bending down to feel the fabric. Some felt softer, others felt rougher, some were smooth and cool...

“Y’know,” Damien began, making Ari jump as he was taken out of his thoughts. “I‘m surprised you trusted me so quickly. It looked like you thought I was going to kill you at first. I guess I just didn’t expect you to go from thinking I would hurt you to cheerfully throwing yourself into my hand.”

A shiver went down the little borrower’s spine.

“Humans just scare me... I didn’t know what you’d do to me, I was worried you’d...” Ari trailed off. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to revisit those memories.

“You were worried I would..?”

“W-well...” Ari nervously tapped his index fingers together, as if hoping it would make the gears in his brain turn faster and let him find the words he was looking for. “...I was worried you’d do cruel things to me, like crushing my hands so I can’t borrow or keeping me like a living doll or just twisting my head off like a bottlecap, or...”

Ari winced as he saw Damien start to smirk at his little self.

“B-But you didn’t do that!” Ari shouted. “You let me go and let me have a dress and I’m very thankful for that!!”

Damien stifled a laugh while Ari slowly and silently began to panic.

“I’m sorry,” Damien said. “You thought I was going to do _that _to you?”

“Yes, I did! Humans are scary, okay?!” Ari was clearly shaking, and a Damien felt a tinge of guilt.

“I’m really sorry, I should’ve thought about how that would be to you. I just found it hilarious someone actually thought I was intimidating.”

Ari couldn’t believe it. There were people out there who _didn’t_ find Damian intimidating?

“Are you... not scary to other humans?” Ari asked, unsure how to phrase it. Damien shook his head slightly.

“Not exactly,” he murmured. ”Most people seem to think I’m harmless the second they meet me.”

Ari paused for a second, trying to parse this information. He supposed this made sense too, that humans wouldn’t be as scared of Damien. In all honesty, the only reason Ari wasn’t always a trembling, stammering mess around Damien was because he hadn’t hurt him and offered to let him wear more dresses. If Damien really wanted to hurt him, he would’ve done it already.

He wasn’t entirely sure why, but for some reason Ari felt that even if they were the same size, he’d still feel slightly nervous around Damien. Maybe it was just too difficult for his little self to imagine being totally unafraid of someone he already knew to be a giant.

“Anyways,” Damien continued. “Do you want to pick the clothes you want to try on or should I have you try out the clothes that I intend to sell tomorrow? I don’t want to disappoint my commissioner, and it might be helpful for me to see them on you.”

“Oh, I’ll try the ones you’re selling!”

With a nod, Damien picked out several outfits and held them out for Ari. Compared to the rest of the grandiose outfits, these looked relatively plain.

In Damien’s hand he held out a navy blue shirt with blue trousers and a black vest, a dark red dress with a green jacket that seemed to have Velcro instead of a zipper to allow it to open and close, and a drab brownish-grey and green dress that reminded Ari far too much of the clothes he’d seen borrowers wear when they passed by.

Occasionally a group that was moving would happen across their home and ask Ari’s family if they could stay the night, and his family always allowed it. Indoor borrowers were said to be very polite, safe folk. They were often taught the importance of helping others and helping the community survive, and many of their beliefs seemed focused around that idea: protecting the unity and survival of the group over all.

From what Ari had heard, outdoor borrowers didn’t adhere to these morals. His mother called them savages while his father said they had just been driven to make poor choices by their circumstances. No one knew for sure why some borrowers stayed hidden in the wilderness while others stayed hidden in human civilization, but to Ari, there certainly was more stability and trust within human civilization.

_Maybe it’s worth it to be safe here even if it means I’m not free_, Ari thought to himself. _If I lived outdoors, I could wear whatever I wanted, but I’d never be able to truly rest, I could be hurt by desperate borrowers or eaten by animals or crushed underfoot by humans or washed away by floods... _

“Hey,” Damien broke through Ari’s cloud of thoughts. “Are you okay? You were staring at them, is it a tough choice?”

“Uh, yes,” he muttered, clearing his throat before picking one at random.

“I’ll try this,” Ari decided, pulling the red dress out of the palm of Damien’s hand. With a nod, Damien set the rest on the table and began to leave the room.

“W-wait!” Ari cried out rushing to the edge of the table, closer to Damien. “Where are you going?” 

“I’m just going to wait outside while you get changed, okay? I’ll just be a minute, I’ll come back in and ask if it’s okay for me to look at you.”

“Oh, right...” Ari couldn’t explain why, but his heart seemed to beat slightly faster at the idea of Damien seeing him undressed. He felt more of that nervousness again, but quickly pushed it down and did his best to put on a confident front again. He didn’t want Damien to think he was scared of him.

Ari watched the human walk out of the room and pull the door almost closed. Ari hurriedly took his clothes off and dropped them in a pile beside him, and put the red dress on.

The material felt very slightly “stretchy,” in a way, and conformed to his body well. The sleeves left only his wrists and hands exposed, and the skirt went down to just above his ankles. At the waist, the dress went from conforming to his body like a tight shirt to flowing as a long skirt. He carefully put the jacket on and pivoted, feeling how the jacket seemed to “flow” similarly to the skirt.

He sat down and waited for Damien to enter again, meeting him with a grin as he returned.

“How does it look?” Ari asked, looking up at Damien with an expectant smile.

“I’ll let you see for yourself,” Damien answered, laying his hand in front of Ari. He leaped onto it cheerfully, and steadied himself by sitting down and holding on to a finger as Damien carried him over to the full-body mirror.

A mixture of emotions surged through Ari as he looked at himself in the mirror. Elated and excited to see himself wearing such nice clothes, happily surprised to learn he could even find himself cute and endearing in this outfit, and slightly shocked to finally see the disparity in sizes between him and Damien. He knew he was small compared to Damien, but Ari felt absolutely tiny seeing the way he fit in the palm of his hand.

“Is it okay if I take the jacket off?” Ari inquired, already starting to pull it off his shoulder. As Damien nodded, Ari shrugged it off and allowed Damien to take it with his free hand.

Ari leaned closer to the mirror, admiring himself. This was the first time he was truly given a choice by someone and allowed to choose how he looked. Damien had genuinely listened to him and his wishes, and took them into account. Ari had never had someone do that without any deceiving or misleading or half-truths involved.

He pivoted, twirling and watching the long skirt flow in accordance to his movements. He nearly lost his balance, but Damien quickly moved his free hand in place to serve as a wall for Ari to support himself with.

“I really like this one...” Ari stated, unable to take his eyes off the mirror.

“I do too,” Damien responded with a sleepy smile. “You make a wonderful little model.”

Ari felt a sort of contentment as Damien carried him back to the desk. This marked the very first day of his life he had been given choices he wanted with no strings attached or drawbacks or unreasonable limits. He often struggled to find the words to describe his feelings, but this bliss was completely impossible to explain.

They spent the next half hour cycling through various outfits until Damien finally admitted that he couldn’t stay awake much longer and would need to sleep. Ari had difficulty parting with the red dress, feeling a sort of connection to it as it was part of his first foray into freedom, but he knew it belonged to whoever commissioned it from Damien, and it wouldn’t be his place to take something that was needed by the humans.

Soon enough, Ari had changed back into the clothes his parents had given him and he and Damien had said their goodbyes. He had to stop himself from skipping and dancing his way home, overwhelmed with joy. His whole life he’d wanted agency for his own self, and a person who could’ve taken every bit of agency Ari had ended up being the one who gave so much more to him.

As he sneaked back through the halls, he let out a relieved sigh when he saw the door to his parents’ room slightly open, with the both of them fast asleep. Ari wrapped up in his blankets, far more comforted than he was last night.

_My parents must not have known about me going out, _Ari figured, thinking back to the morning and afternoon he’d spent around them or enclosed in his room. _They would’ve talked about us moving the second they had us all together if they did. Seems I’ll be enjoying my life here after all... _

And with those final thoughts, Ari slipped out of consciousness and into a dream-filled sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo 2 AM update  
(Edited on December 25th, 2020.)

Damien watched as Ari cheerfully strode off, and dropped himself into his soft, cozy bed with a _fwump_.

Feeling a rumble in his pocket, he pulled out his phone and checked his messages.

“Sorry to bug you so late but is the stuff ready??”

“Yeah” Damien replied. “I just finished up making sure they look right, I only want to deliver the best.”

“Damien all your work is the best!! Thanks for making it but you shouldn’t stay up all night just for a commission!!”

Damien supposed he was right, he had been neglecting his health lately... But the deadline for when these need to be delivered was tomorrow, and he would feel awful if he had to delay them.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but you said you needed these done fast. You even paid extra for me to hurry with it, and to use the comfortable fabric for realism, so I’m not going to disappoint.”

“Fine... Do you promise to go to sleep now that you’re done? And take a nap tomorrow to catch up on missed sleep??”

“Of course.”

“Then goodnight Damien!!!”

“Goodnight, Harlow.”

And with that, Damien plugged his phone into the charger, set it on his nightstand, and let sleep take him.

Harlow let out a deep sigh as he brushed his curly brown hair out of his eyes, set his phone aside and checked the clock.

_3_:_26... He really ought to be going to sleep earlier..._

Harlow sat down at his desk and looked at the tiny girl carefully peeking out of the mass of colored fabric he’d let her use as a bed. Even in this dark he could still see a few noticeable bruises on her...

“Don’t worry,” Harlow began. “My friend is making some new clothes to replace your dirty old ones, and before you get mad at me for ‘revealing you,’ I told him it was for some dolls so he won’t suspect a thing.”

The tiny girl shifted slightly, silently glaring up at him.

“I guess you should just rest for now, alright? You’re really hurt, and I know for a fact you’ll get better faster if you rest.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, as if saying _What sort of idiot do you take me for? I clearly already know that._

“I shouldn’t stay up any longer,” Harlow muttered. “It’s late, I’m sleepy, goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.”

And with that, Harlow climbed into bed, set his alarm, and curled up in his leaf green blankets, letting himself slowly fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll admit this was a bit rushed, I just wanted to get something out this week and I felt like even though this was short, it got the plot moving forward a bit.


	4. Chapter 4

Resi climbed down the last few rungs of the ladder, making her way out of the house as she clutched the rough straps of her backpack tightly, giving one last check to make sure she had her wineskins attached to the backpack and everything labeled and strapped or tucked away properly. Water, food, medicine for pain, she was all set for her journey.

_Goodbye, home. _

She hid as best as she could, sticking to the tall, yellowing grass and using the trees that towered above her as landmarks to guide her. She already had a way to the next house planned out, she just had to stay hidden and stay safe.

As the wind made the grass and trees far, far above sway, Resi felt a slight bit of comfort. She was easily hidden from human view down here, and even if she did make a noise, the loud gusts would probably drown it out or at least make the human assume they were only hearing things.

_They’re too easy to fool_, Resi thought to herself. _Maybe too easy, considering how often they just assume we’re rats or bugs getting into their food and call an exterminator..._

For hours, Resi followed her path until the sun was nearly set. She’d need to leave the comfort of the tall grass and be out in the open for the next part, but it would just be a quick dash across and she’d be safe again!

She carefully peeked out from behind the high stalks of grass, making sure no humans were following this rural path before running across.

Halfway along exposed area, Resi heard a small shout from above, and looked up to see eight borrowers using some sort of devices made of sticks, leaves, and string to glide down from the treetops.

_Outdoor borrowers. Great. Let’s hope they’re friendly..._

As they each landed, they discarded their gliders behind them, all taking a few steps towards Resi but one with messy black hair and mud staining his tattered brown clothes coming closer. He seemed to be the leader, judging by how the others watched him.

“H—“

Resi was immediately cut off by the one approaching her.

“You’re an indoor borrower, huh? You must be able to get your hands on a lot of things that could be useful for us...”

Resi stayed silent, watching the group nervously. All seven of them clearly had some sort of mali—

_Wait, seven?_

She whipped around, seeing one having cut the twine attaching her wineskin with the medicine and holding it in his grip.

“Wha— Hey, do you think you’ve earned that?!” Resi exclaimed. “Hand it over before I break your jaw.”

The one holding the medicine laughed slightly, taking a step back.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands,” the leader stated. Resi jerked around to see all eight of the borrowers starting to surround her, closing any route of escape. “Just give us whatever we want and we can all go on our ways, alright?”

“...Why should I give anything to the people who are threatening me?” Resi might not be strong enough to take on eight at once, but she sure was stubborn enough to not give up.

“Our people are starving, injured, sickly...” a borrower with greenish clothes and a black bandana beside the leader explained. “We gotta get them help however we can, even if it means taking from others.”

“I suppose that makes sense...” Resi muttered.

“You know what?” She began, turning back to the borrower with her medicine. “I’m sorry. You should take whatever you wan—“

She swung her fist upward with all her strength and cracked him square in the jaw. She grabbed her wineskin and sprinted as fast as she could, seeing the mob rushing behind her. She was running away from where she initially intended to go, but just surviving would be ideal at the moment.

Just before she could make it into the grass, the leader tackled her, and soon enough the whole group had dogpiled onto her, battering her, kicking her, holding her face in the dirt, doing anything they could to keep Resi down.

Soon enough, she gave in. She curled up in a fetal position as they cut the straps of her backpack to get it off of her and dragged it away from her, back to whatever hole they lived in. One hesitated, staying to to kick the dirt in Resi’s face before hurrying off to rejoin the others.

Resi clutched her rough, beige-colored sleeves. Her vision blurred as she struggled to stand up again, and finally she collapsed. She had no reason to carry on, she’d never survive without all her supplies. She was going to die, all because of what her own kind did to her.

Harlow was surprised when he heard what sounded like a furious, but very faint shout up ahead on the path home. Every step he took from then on was filled with hesitation. People didn’t normally come here, so what would they be doing that warranted shouting?

_What if it isn’t even a person? _Harlow wondered. _There are tons of stories of creatures who imitate people out in places like this. Jesus Christ, I could be walking right into some trap..._

Even as every paranoid bone in his body told him to run straight home, he knew this was the safest path to follow, despite his anxieties. He did his best to walk at a regular pace, but soon enough found himself stopped for another reason.

Something like a little doll was dropped on the ground. At first, all Harlow could see of it was it’s messy, dark brown hair and beige dress. He crouched down and gently pushed it over with his fingertip, then felt his heart drop as he heard it groan.

As he looked closer, he saw that it wasn’t a doll at all, it— well, she was far too realistic. Her nose was bleeding, she seemed to have bruises judging by one of the sleeves that was pulled up...

_...Oh my god, I’ve found a borrower. _

Harlow nervously scooped her up, and hurriedly carried her home, watching his step in case there were any more. He repeatedly had to brush his hair out of his eyes as he alternated between looking down and straight ahead in case the borrower moved at all.

The second he got home, Harlow hurried to his room, cupping his hands around the little borrower and hoping his family wouldn’t notice.

Luck was on his side, as he reached his room with no complications. He pushed the mess of papers on his desk aside and set the poor thing down as gently as he could.

Harlow frantically rushed around, gathering up things like a pillow cover, several washcloths, and an old baby blanket from the closet to try and make a bundle of soft fabric for the borrower to lay on.

He rummaged through the medicine cabinets until he found some arnica and bacitracin, and brought them back to his room for the borrower to apply once she woke up.


End file.
